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similar amount of phosphoric acid. The oil obtained by 

 ancient methods, viz., by the putrefaction of masses of fish 

 in open receptacles, was a product of disgusting charac- 

 ter and its production has largely fallen off, owing mainly 

 to the introduction of mineral oil and to its own un- 

 pleasantness. At present the masses of fish which, for 

 want of time or means, cannot be turned into food, are, 

 in general, simply dried on the open sand of the beach ; 

 the viscid oil takes up an immense amount of sand, 

 and the whole product when dry is then sent to the 

 coffee estates of the interior or Ceylon, etc., as manure. . 

 Hence the consumer obtains a product by no means 

 suitable to his real wants ; the oil, useful elsewhere, is 

 not only useless as a fertilizer but is objectionable, 

 clooging the soil and delaying decomposition ; some of 

 the nitrogen has been lost by partial putrefaction, while 

 the sand is obviously a mere nuisance. Consequently 

 the producer obtains a very low price, since the consumer 

 has to buy and pay carriage on inert or undesirable 

 matter ; neither party is pleased. It is absurd that the 

 fisherman should get only from Rs. i8 to 24, averaging 

 about Rs. 20, for a ton of dried sardine. Now while it 

 is obvious that these valuable substances should be so 

 treated as to insure the obtaining of their full value, the 

 attainment of this object is not easy. There is consider- 

 able difficulty in dealing with them on the large scale in 

 central factories ; the shoals are most irregular in appear- 

 ance often at long intervals, and though they are pro- 

 bably not far off, it is difficult, with present appliances, to 

 find them ; if the factory deals with dried sardine the 

 sand adulterant is a very serious if not fatal stumbling 

 block and the products are, in any case, less satisfactory 

 than if fresh fish are used ; if with fresh sardine, then 

 regular supplies can only be obtained, and not even then 

 with certainty, by the use of power-driven boats scouring 

 the coasts for catches, in which case the cost may 

 outweigh the value of the products. Hence it would 

 seem more economical, industrially, to have a chain of 

 very small factories, as formerly on the American coasts, 

 which, with plant costing at most only a few hundreds 

 of rupees each, will deal with the sardine wherever and 

 whenever it arrives, and can remain idle without serious 

 loss ; moreover by exercising care and direct supervision 

 locally in drying the fish free from sand, a small factory 

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